Utah’s law barring “sensitive materials” from school libraries is facing a major legal challenge, accusing the state of “book burning” and violating the Constitution.
The complaint, filed by the Kurt Vonnegut estate on January 6, contends that the law is a “modern-day book burning” because it removes books with inappropriate sexual content from government-run school libraries.
The plaintiffs include Vonnegut’s estate, young adult authors, and two students. They are being represented by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of Utah, whose legal director said their books “are being swept up not because they are obscene, but because they tackle difficult topics in honest ways,” according to a press release.
The law instructs school districts and charter schools to review materials flagged as “sensitive,” and books that contain “objective sexual material” for removal.
Under the legislation, any book that has been removed by three or more school districts, or by two districts and at least five charter schools, is banned. Once this happens, all districts must pull the books from their shelves — even for older high school students.
The lawsuit contends that the law forces schools to remove any book that contains even “a single description or depiction of sex, no matter how fleeting, no matter its context and no matter its literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.”
Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” is one of the books that has been removed.
The complaint says the law automatically treats books as “pornographic or indecent material” if it includes content featuring “acts of human masturbation, sexual intercourse, or sodomy” or “fondling or other erotic touching of the human buttock or female breasts.”
The plaintiffs allege that this ignores the reality that “a seventeen-year-old preparing for college” is in “a fundamentally different place than a five-year-old.”
Several classics have been banned under the law, including “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, “The Bluest Eye,” The Kite Runner,” and several others.
Utah already had systems in place to ensure that young children are not viewing age-inappropriate material, according to the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to deem the law unconstitutional and to issue a permanent injunction on its enforcement.
These are similar to other arguments made by many on the left who argue that this material should be available to children.
I can understand the argument that perhaps some of these books should be available to older children. After all, I read Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse Five” in high school, and I wasn’t exactly scandalized by it. However, we have seen over recent years that much of the content in these books is clearly not suitable for minors. Many of these books, marketed to elementary school children, feature graphic depictions of sex and violence.
Even further, the far left has been pushing schools to feature material aimed at promoting their views on sexuality and gender to small children — something even Democratic voters largely oppose. It’s hard to believe this is just about protecting constitutional rights. No author is entitled to have their books displayed in any library. From where I sit, those criticizing these laws are simply afraid to lose an avenue through which they can influence young minds to adopt their ideological beliefs, which is the last thing that should be happening in schools.
